Khudi Bari: A Social Project by Marina Tabassum Architects and Its Journey from Dhaka to Weil Am Rhe

A world-renowned architect and her team respond to the need for affordable shelter in our growing climate emergency

Published with Rolf Fehlbaum.

In Bangladesh, climate change causes frequent flooding, forcing countless people to find new homes. In response, Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum (born 1968) and her team have developed the Khudi Bari (small house): a low-cost structure that can be assembled, disassembled, transported and reassembled in another location by the inhabitants themselves.
This publication contains texts, photographs and illustrations of a Khudi Bari erected on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, as an example of a concrete response to problems exacerbated by the climate crisis.
Says Tabassum: "Inspiration for this mobile house is rooted in the vernacular style of dwelling that can be found in Bangladesh. These structures are created in the manner of a flatpack system and are generally built along the majestic Padma, Jamuna and Meghna rivers. The houses have a wooden frame structure and corrugated metal facades and roofs, which can be dismantled and relocated in the aftermath of riverbank erosion and reassembled by their owners once they have found a new place to build."